Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-10-30

but got aground in the Ohio river and
had to go back to Smithland, KY,
where he was ordered 10 Memphis. On
his way thither he was fred upon
through mistake by the Union bat
teries at Paducah, but at length reached
his destination, where he was ordered
TO Osceola, Ark, TO get the packet
Platte Valley off the bar opposite that
town, which was held by 1900 Confed-
crates under General Clark. The
packet had been fred upon by the
Confederates on the way down and
about fifteen men were killed, in
GLIDING the pilot, who was shot
as he was getting out OF the
barber's chair. Dawson got the boat
off, and just as be was about to be at
tackled, fact which he had learned
from Confederate whom he had care
fully primed with commissary whiskey,
and he then proceeded to st. Louis.
In 1864 he returned to New York with
considerable money, but made the mis-
take Of going short in the gold room
and lost most Of it. He speculated in
stocks for several years, and in 1867 en-
tered into bear campaign in Erie.
Daniel Drew, then one of the giants of
Wall street, had taken Jay Gould,
Henry n. Smith, and some others into
bull pool in Erie. Mr.. Gould was at
that time member OF the brokerage
firm of Smith, Gould & Martin. The
bear pool sold the stock short, and made
bogus or "wash sales, and hammered
the market until some of the
bulls became nervous. Some OF the
bear conspiratOrs, Dawson among
the number, solemnly assured the
more nervous bulls that old Daniel
Drew was quietly selling out To give
color to this erroneous statement the
bear pool made a ''wash sale of 80, 900
shares and blufled off skeptics by offer
ing to bet $4,000 that it was a genuine
transaction. This so frightened some
of the bulls that they really believed
that sly old Daniel Drew was unload
ing, and they thereupon threw over
board their stock, which the unsuspect-
ing Uncle Daniel was compelled to
take in order to protect himself. Hill,
the bear manipulation, drove the price
down II per cent, and later, when
Henry n. Smith quarrelled with Jay
Gould, he said that the latter lost
$4,000, 600 by the break but made the
Erie road stand the loss. 1t is be-
lieved by many that Gould would
have been ruined in more than
one speculation if he had not had the
Erie road at his back. In the end,
however, the bear pool, in which Daw-
son was one of the leading spirits,
made little or no money, the market
finally going against them. In 1868 he
went TO San Francisco and became a
great friend of the famous Ralston,
whose one ambition was to make the
Bank OF California as great as the Bank
Of England, and who committed sui
eide on the failure Of the institution
for which he had entertained such
daring hopes. Dawson speculated in
mining shares for awhile and again
became interested at about the same
time in Government contracts. He
was, it seems, the lowest bid
der on a contract to supply
$1,000, COO worth of beef to the Sioux
Indians, and was largely instrumental in
bringing about an investigation of the
Interior Department which rejected his
bid, the inquiry into itsmethods finally
resulting in the retirement of Columbus
Delauo. the Secretary of the Interior.
In 1869 Dawson, after stage trip Of
SEQ miles, reached Treasure Hill, New,
whore there was a great silver mining
excitement. Some Of the ore esslyed
goo, coo a ton, and where there was once
q mere wilderness there sprung up
Treasure City, 10000 feet above the
level of the sea, with a population
suddenly increased in the dead of winter
from a mere handful of prOspectOrs to
40,0C0people, with twenty-six faro banks
in operation and at least one murder a
day TO satisfy the police demand for u
lively civilization. In conjunction with
Ex-Governor Madison be erected large
smelling works and shipped large
amount of silver. Those were times
that suggested the life-like fiction Of
Bret Harte. The d" Eberhardt was
then a great mine there, and thirty
aimed men were employed at S25 day
to keep off thieves. Dawson himself is
we'll known to have been one of the
most resolute fighters in the town and
was respected accordingly. A mob
once attacked the Office of Ex-Governor
Madison because one of his notes was
found worthless, and might have killed
him but for Dawson, who held them at
bay with drawn revolver. In 1872 he
returned to New York, where he has
since remained, operating in stocks and
grain with fair success. He is bache-
Tor and well known about town.
LOST AND FOUND.
If any person wants to get an idea Of
how difficult it is for two strangers to
meet in this city, even when DESTROYS
of doing so, let him watch the "Lost-
and-Found " columns Of the New York
newspapers for a time. He will find
there the same articles described at the
same time among the lost and the
found. 1t would seem natural that the
woman and the finder would come
across each others advertisements and
thus come in communication with each
other. But the chances are more than
ever that they will not. as the student
of those columns will soon observe ii
he watches faithfully.
was very much puzzled by this pc
culiar state of affairs, and could ia no
way account for it until | one day be-
came personally interested, and then l
found out. / was walking along Broad
way and had reached the railroad Office
at the southeast corner of Broadway
and Twenty.third street, when kick
ed something on the sidewalk. That
something had been quietly reposing
in the shadow OF the buildings, aud
was propelled by my foot across the
walk and under the glare of the cleo
tric-light. / naturally looked down
and was naturally startled. The object
thus unceremoniously whirled across
the unrelenting pavement was a deli
cate gold watch, such as ladies wear.
/ would not have been more aston
ished had it been Queen YictOria's
crown. In what was at that hour the
most frequented spot in New York,
where thou sands of people passed and
repassed every hour, had stumbled
against an article of value which had
lain in the direct pathway OF the multi
tudel It was watch that could easily
be identified, being one of the old